I occasionally break out of the digital world and scratch things out on paper. This usually happens when I'm trying to architect a piece of system or I'm working through some tough logic. I've found that I really like strips of paper for drawing out ideas. 8.5" x 11" pieces cut lengthwise are perfect.

Paper also enters my workspace when I'm proofing a draft of a blog entry or something that I think might reach more than a handful friendly people. Paper and pen are so easy to use. They require very little cognitive overhead. They let you focus on the content and not the tools.

I have a first generation iPad and a third generation Kindle, but I rarely use them. If I want to do computer stuff, I use my laptop. If I want to read a book, I'm generally on paper. I'm not a paper fetishist, it's just that my library generally lends me non-digital items.

My iPhone 4s gets regular use during the day. I use it for music and for quick pictures and videos.

And what software?

Most of my day is spent in OS X. When I'm working on one of our servers, I'm in CentOS, some Redhat somethignororther, or Ubuntu.

I spend most of my development time in PyDev (which is a Python centric bundling of Eclipse).

If I'm coding and I'm not in PyDev, I'm probably doing some quick proof of concept scripting or doing some PHP/JavaScript/Web development . For this type of work I'll use TextMate if I'm working locally and vi if I'm working remotely.

We track code using git and push almost all work to GitHub. We use GitHub Issues for project management. We really dig GitHub in the lab.

I'd also create an ideal office space. No office mates. A glass wall that insulates sound very well. I want to be able to see what's going on in the common work areas and I want people to see that they can get me if needed, but I don't want the noise when I'm focusing. I'm sold on the Joel Spolsky office setup.